Playing politics with Buhari’s health is irresponsible —Bamaiyi

Former Chief of Army Staff, Isaiah Baimaiyi, has described those who played politics with the health of President Muhammadu Buhari, as irresponsible.

Bamaiyi, who expressed dismay that politics was being allegedly played with the president’s health, said those who were close to the president were benefiting from the problem.

He said this in an interview with newsmen during the 40th general conference of the United Missionary Church of Africa (UMCA) at the UMCA Theological College in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The former Army boss said the president’s aides were leaving the country in the dark about his health and this had encouraged the call in some quarters for his resignation from office.

Bamaiyi, who decried the call for the resignation of the president said: “It’s normal for any human being to fall sick. He took all necessary constitutional steps before he left the country. Yes, I agree there are problems. I think people who are really close to the president are benefiting from his health problems.

“They are the ones causing problem for him. There’s no reason whatsoever why they should not talk about the president’s health. If the president feels he can’t continue, he will be the one to tell you. I know Mr President very well enough because I worked under him directly. I know him to be respectful and straight forward.

“If he knows he won’t be able to continue, he would have said so. We shouldn’t play politics with the president health. It doesn’t portray us as responsible people,” he said.

Speaking on the insurgency in the country, Bamaiyi said, the approach to fighting violence was different from the that of a direct war.

He commended the efforts of the government and called for support of the citizens to subdue the crisis.

“The military is doing well enough. It’s just that insurgency is not a war that you can fight directly where the enemy is. They are here today, there tomorrow. You can agree with me that a lot has changed with the coming of this administration.

“Sambisa forest is no longer in firm control of the insurgents. The military is doing well. All that’s required is for people to give them the necessary support. You cannot avoid insurgency; it’s an international issue. They are every where, particularly when people are not satisfied with a situation. More so, there are external influences. You can’t end insurgency in one day; it takes time,” he stated.

President of the UMCA, Reverend Moses Tswanya, while addressing newsmen during the conference, also commended the government’s efforts towards subduing the activities of insurgents and called for efforts to tackle herdsmen attacks and ensure that the activities of kidnappers were also checked.

Tswanya condemned the attacks of churches in the Northern part of the country by insurgents and urged government to intervene in the reconstruction of the affected churches.

He called for efforts to fight the menace of corruption by ensuring that culprits were dealt with, without fear or favour.